Saturday, December 20, 2014

On this date in 2007, MarianGaborik of the Minnesota Wild became the first player in 11 years to score five goals in a game, which he did at home against the New York Rangers and goaltenderHenrik Lundqvist.

"I scored five goals back home [in Slovakia], but to score five goals in the NHL, it's totally a different experience. To reach it here with these guys and in front of our fans, it's just unbelievable. Wonderful experience." Gaborik said.

Gaborik's first goal came with the Wild trailing 1-0 at 13:33 of the first period when Aaron Voros made a behind the back, between his legs pass to Pavol Demitra who fed the puck across the crease to Gaborik who had an easy redirection past Lundqvist.

Gaborik's first goal came on with an assist from fellow Slovak Demitra

Goal #2 arrived at 3:47 of the second on the power play when Mark Parrish, behind the Rangers goal, fed the puck to Demitra who was behind the net to the right. He fed the to Gaborik stationed in front of the net, who shot the puck, which then bounced up in the air. Gaborik was able to deftly swat in the waist level rebound over Lundqvist's shoulder and into the net for his second goal.

Goal #2 came off a mid-air rebound

The third goal also came on a power play when Pierre-Marc Bouchard had the puck on the blue line and passed to Brent Burns, who sent a pass from the boards on the left near the top of the face off circle to Gaborik in the slot, who simply skated toward the net and pulled the puck far to his backhand and put it around Lundqvist for the natural hat trick at 5:38, really causing the home fans to erupt and the baseball caps to rain down onto the ice.

Gaborik celebrates his natural hat trick

After Martin Straka scored for New York at 6:29, Bouchard restored the Wild's two goal lead on yet another power play goal with an assist from Gaborik at 10:56.

Then, at 7:15 of the third period, Minnesota's Martin Skoula did this...

We can't say we've ever seen anyone look that bad during an NHL game ever before.

Just 41 seconds later, the magic continued when Nick Schultz shot the puck in from the blue line, which deflected off of Voros in the slot, right into Gaborik's strike zone to the left of the goal where he flipped it in out of mid-air directly into the net for goal #4.

Gaborik celebrates his fourth goal of the night

Still not finished, Gaborik's fifth goal came when he stole the puck at the defensive blue line, streaked down the ice and fired one of his lighting quick wrist shots past Lunqvist at 9:31, causing the sellout crowd of 18,568at the Xcel Energy Center to erupt in celebration of the amazing performance they were witnessing.

The Rangers then mercifully pulled Lundqvist with 7:56 remaining in the game, replacing him with Steve Valiquette. When Michael Roszival received 2 minutes for elbowing Gaborik and a ten minute misconduct at 16:21, Gaborik's teammates feed him puck after puck on the ensuing power play in an attempt for goal #6, only to have Gaborik unselfishly return their passes. Undaunted, his teammates would refuse the puck and once more send the it right back to Gaborik in an effort to get him to shoot for goal #6. Finally, a wide open Gaborik to the right of the goal received a perfect feed and fired a one-timer at the wide open goal, only to have Valiquette make an outstanding reaction to the cross ice pass and stop Gaborik on what looked to be a certain goal, denying the fans at the Xcel Energy Center one final chance to erupt.

It was Gaborik's second six point night of his career and came on ten shots on goal.

After the game, Gaborik was carried off the ice by

teammates Keith Carney and Sean Hill

"Every time Gabby touched the puck, it was just electric," defenseman Burns said and goaltender Josh Harding added "His back might be sore from carrying us tonight."

"It was pretty amazing," Wild captain Mark Parrish said. "He was banking 'em in out of the air, scoring on breakaways, skating through everybody with it, making highlight-film goals. My God, he was doing it every which-way tonight. When a guy like that's feeling it, it gets pretty scary for the other team."

In the locker room after the game, Gaborik poses with the five pucks he used

to become the first player to score five goals in a game in 11 years

Up until Gaborik's amazing performance in 2007, the last player to record five goals in a game was the Detroit Red Wings Sergei Fedorov on December 12, 1996 in a 5-4 win over the Washington Capitals. Following Gaborik, only one other player has joined the exclusive five goal club, that being JohanFranzen, also of the Red Wings, on February 2, 2011.Today's featured jersey is a 2007-08 Minnesota Wild Marian Gaborik jersey. This jersey was first introduced in 2003 as an alternate and branded as a Koho for the 2003-04 season. After the 2004-05 NHL season was canceled due to labor issues, when play resumed in 2005-06 this jersey was now branded as a Reebok. This jersey remained in use through the 2006-07 season.

While the Wild had only been around for three seasons at the time, the hockey heritage of the state of Minnesota runs deep and this "throwback" look captures that tradition and instantly became a top seller. When forced to decide between their home green jersey and red alternate when the third jerseys were discontinued during the first season of the new Reebok Edge jerseys in 2007, the Wild's sales figures of 70% red jerseys, 20% white and 10% green made the choice an obvious one in favor of keeping the red jersey.Minor changes occurred, such as the addition of the wheat colored trim around the shoulder area and the lack of the green waist striping, but this new evolution of the Wild's red jersey remains in use through this day.

This jersey style has some unique features, such as it's felt crest and sweater-style material for the collar.

Today's video section is highlights of Gaborik's five goal performance.

Friday, December 19, 2014

At the age of 17, BehnWilson, born on this date in 1958, showed his unquestioned toughness with 131 penalty minutes in 63 games for the 1975-76 Ottawa 67's of the QMJHL. He played a half a season with the 67's in 1976-77 before moving to the Windsor Spitfires. His combined points that season while playing defense was an impressive 57 in 48 games. He also made his professional hockey debut with the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL where he scored 9 points in 13 games and racked up 40 penalty minutes in just 13 games as the 18 year old was tested by the older players in the IHL.

It was back to junior hockey for Wilson in 1977-78 with the Kingston Canadiens where he finished second on the club in scoring with 18 goals and 76 points plus 186 penalty minutes in 52 games. That caught the attention of the Philadelphia Flyers, who were always on the lookout for toughness and grit, especia , lly from someone who could contribute offensively. Following the season the Flyers made Wilson the #6 overall pick in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft.

He stepped straight into the Flyers lineup in 1978-79, leading all Flyers defensemen in scoring with 49 points (10 more than any other) as well as leading the team in penalty minutes, no easy task for a rookie on a club with noted tough guys Mel Bridgeman and Paul Holmgren!

Wilson would top 200 penalty minutes for the first time the following season with 212. The Flyers finished first overall in the league with 116 points and advanced through the playoffs to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Back then, all 16 playoff qualifiers were seeded 1 to 16 without regard for divisions or even conferences, which allowed Philadelphia, the winners of the Patrick Division to face geographic neighbors and fellow Patrick Division rivals the New York Islanders, who prevailed in six games to begin their Stanley Cup dynasty.

Wilson set career highs in 1980-81 with 47 assists and 63 points as well as 237 penalty minutes. He also was a +39 for the year and earned a spot in the 1981 NHL All-Star Game.

Wilson played two more injury shortened seasons with the Flyers, thanks in part to his rugged, all out style, before being traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for the 1983-84 season. He played three seasons for the Black Hawks, with a high of 185 penalty minutes in 1984-85 and 50 points in 1985-86 before being forced to miss the entire 1986-87 season with a back injury.

Wilson in 1980-81 while wearing the Flyers infamous long pants

He would return to Chicago in 1987-88 and score 29 points in 58 games and record 166 penalty minutes. He would be claimed by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1988 Waiver Draft, but a reoccurrence of his back problems prevented him from ever playing again and he would formally retire after the 1988-89 season at the age of 29 with career totals of 601 games played, 98 goals and 260 assists for 358 points as well as his 1,480 penalty minutes, which included leading the Black Hawks in 1984.

Wilson following a scrap while with the Black Hawks

Today's featured jersey is a 1981-82 Philadelphia Flyers Behn Wilson jersey. This jersey is notably short in length, perhaps due in part to being worn with the CCM Pro Guard full-length hockey pants, more commonly referred to as "Cooperalls", despite not being the Cooper version of the long pants.

This jersey is from the third generation of Flyers jerseys, nearly identical to their original 1967-68 sweaters, only with the addition of wider arm striping which allowed the sleeve numbers to be contained entirely within the colored area, unlike the narrower first version which saw the sleeve numbers break out of the stripe.

What differentiates this third generation of jersey from the second is the absence of any waist striping which came with the adaptation of the "Cooperalls". This was the only season for this particular style jersey, as it was replaced by a modernized version of the jersey the following year.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1983-84 Philadelphia Flyers Behn Wilson jersey which illustrates the evolution in style of the Flyers jersey. This is the second season for the new, modernized jersey which saw the addition of black trim which separated the body color from the sleeve color as the Flyers had now reverted back to the standard, short hockey pants. Additionally there was now trim above the black sleeve cuffs.

This second season is distinguished from the 1982-83 season by the straight section of of the shoulder yoke above the name on the back, where the previous season's jersey saw the sleeve striping on the back start at the collar and arch continuously downward. This long-lived style remained in use until 2007 with the arrival of the Reebok Edge jerseys.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1983-84 Chicago Black Hawks Behn Wilson jersey. This classic Black Hawks jersey has Wilson's first initial "B" on the back as Behn was teammates with long time Black Hawk DougWilson, necessitating the first initials to differentiate the two, something that is falling by the wayside as the different numbers worn by the players with the same last names are now often considered sufficient.

Behn went with #23 while with the Black Hawks as his previous #3 worn in Philadelphia was already in use by DaveFeamster upon his arrival in Chicago.

Today's video section begins with Wilson having a furious battle with the New York Islanders ClarkGilles. followed by another with JohnWensink of the Boston Bruins.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

One of the most dynamic and prolific scorers in NHL history, BobbyHull played his junior hockey for the St. Catharines Teepees in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1954-55 to 1956-57, a season in which he scored 33 goals in 52 games, giving a glimpse into the future as to what was to follow.

He made his NHL debut with Chicago at the age of 18 and finished second in the rookie of the year voting following his 13 goal, 47 point season, which included the first of over 600 NHL goals (and over 900 professional when his days in the WHA are taken into account).

His second season was a repeat of the first, with his goals and points edging upwards to 18 and 50. His game really took flight in 1959-60 when he more than doubled his previous goal total to 39 along with 42 assists to lead the league in both categories and capture the first Art Ross Trophy of his career with 81 points.

Hull and the Black Hawks would achieve even greater heights in 1960-61. Although Hull would relinquish the scoring title, he would still top 30 goals with 31, but his 14 points in 12 playoff games would help the Black Hawks to their first Stanley Cup championship in 23 years.

Hull with the 1961 Stanley Cup

Individual honors would return to Hull's trophy case in 1961-62 when he again led the NHL in both goals and points when he became just the third player in NHL history to reach 50 goals in a single season on his way to 84 points. Hull again added 14 points in the playoffs as Chicago again reached the finals, but fell short in six games.

Hull celebrates goal #50 (wearing #7)

After a 31 goal season in 1962-63, Hull once more led the league in goals in 1963-64 with 43 and came in second to teammate Stan Mikita in the points chase 89-87.

The 1964-65 awards ceremony had more in store for Hull, as he took home the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player as well as the only Lady Byng Trophy of his career. In the postseason, Hull led Chicago in playoff scoring with 10 goals and 17 points in 14 games as the Black Hawks took the Montreal Canadiens to the full seven games before succumbing.

He really turned on the jets beginning in 1965-66 when he led the league in goal scoring for the first of four consecutive seasons with his second 50 goal season when he netted an NHL record 54 goals as part of his league leading 97 points, which garnered Hull his third Art Ross Trophy and second Hart Trophy.

The next two seasons he again led the league in goals with 52 and then 44 before breaking his own NHL single season record with a career high 58 goals and his first 100 point season when he amassed 107 in 1968-69 as the NHL entered a new era in scoring, at which Hull was at the forefront. At the time, Hull owned four of the six 50 goal seasons in NHL history.

Limited to 61 games the following season, Hull still scored 38 goals and passed the 500 career goals mark, on the third player after Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe to reach that milestone. His final season with the Black Hawks in 1971-72 saw him surpass the 600 goal mark during yet another 50 goal season, his fifth, while only Phil Esposito had more than one to his credit with two.

It was then that the upstart World Hockey Association came calling with an offer too good to refuse, and Hull joined the Winnipeg Jets, becoming the centerpiece of the WHA and giving the league an instant shot of credibility.

Hull's jersey #9 was retired by the Black Hawks in recognition of his outstanding career on this date in 1983 in a ceremony at the legendary Chicago Stadium.

Today's featured jersey is a 1964-65 Chicago Black Hawks Bobby Hull jersey from the season Hull won both the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP and the Lady Byng Trophy as well as leading all playoff scorers with 17 points as the Black Hawks took the Montreal Canadiens to a Game 7.

This particular style was worn in the 1962-63 season when the Black Hawks went from five sleeve stripes down to the three white-black-white pattern of today's featured jersey. This style would remain in use for just three seasons, after which the lace-up collar would change to a v-neck collar.

Hull originally broke into the NHL wearing the #16. He would later change to #7 before adopting his familiar #9. Eventually, back in the NHL following the WHA's merger with the NHL, during the final season of his career he would join GordieHowe on the roster of the Hartford Whalers and once more wear the #16 in deference to Howe.

Today's first video is a trip down memory lane, with a look at Munro's Bobby Hull table hockey game. Love the automatic puck dropping scoreboard with the flags. Rod hockey at it's finest. Check out the teams too, Chicago vs. Minnesota. Perfect, and a nice break from Montreal vs. Toronto.

Forgive the quality of the video taping of the TV screen on this video, but the historical nature of Hull scoring goal #600 makes it worth it.

In this next video, Hull wins the only Stanley Cup of his career in 1961.

Finally, a recent interview with Hull on the occasion of becoming a part of the Blackhawks organization once more after far too long of an absence.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

After playing junior hockey in his native Ottawa, Frank "King" Clancy garnered the attention of the local professional club, the Ottawa Senators, who just happened to be the current World Champions.

After a tryout with the Senators, he was signed to a three year contract for $800 a year. When his current, amateur club, the St. Brigid's Athletic Club heard Clancy was planning to leave their team, they attempted to get him to reconsider, talking about the merits of amateurism and how money can often taint a sport and take the joy out of it for the athlete. When they could see that their star player was unconvinced, St. Brigid's make a counteroffer...

Seven dollars and fifty cents - for the entire season!They explained that was all the money they had left in their treasury and Clancy could have it all if he'd stay!

Needless to say, Clancy became a member of the Senators for the 1921-22 season and played the first game of his NHL career on this date in 1921.

My first game as pro! I can remember it like it was last night. We were scheduled to play in Hamilton, and they had players on their roster like GoldieProdgers and KenRandall and the two Mummery boys [Harry and Walter]. They were all big men, powerful men. The night before I left home for that encounter, my poor dad came down to the station in Ottawa and gave me the kind of advice that any father would give a boy going off to play his first professional game. He took me aside, told me not to worry, to do my best and a lot of other things. Then he shook my hand and wished me luck as I got on the train.

Now we're on the train and on our way, and I thought everything was just great. Every once in a while some passenger would come down the aisle and I could see he'd recognize some of the players. Now and again one the boys would be asked for his autograph. Nobody recognized me, of course, but I was tickled pink to be among the famous Ottawa Senators.

We stayed at the Royal Connaught Hotel in Hamilton and that was great too. The next morning going into breakfast, I learned something else. At home my breakfast usually meant a plate of porridge, a piece of toast and maybe a glass of milk. But these guys! They polished off everything! Double orders of bacon and eggs, flapjacks, sausages, toast, rolls, and gallons of milk. I'd never seen fellows eat like that in all my life! It was a revelation to see a bunch of hungry hockey players tie on the feedbag.

That night we headed out to the Barton Street Arena, the same arena that's used for hockey in Hamilton today. And if I thought I was going to get in a lot of ice time in my first game as a pro, I soon had another thing coming.

Frankie Boucher and I sat on the bench right though the sixty minutes of game time. We got a chance to warm up before the game and we took a whirl around the ice between periods, but during the actual play we didn't get a smell of the ice. Boucher didn't get the call; I didn't get the call. We're sitting there like a couple of dummies. Now we come to the end of regulation time and the game is tied 2-2. This mean we have to play overtime. The coach, PeteyGreen, taps me on the shoulder and says, "You go out there in place of [Eddie] Gerard on the defence." Then he turns to Boucher and says, "You go out there in place of [Frank]Nighbor at centre ice." Now this was sudden-death overtime and no time to be making mistakes, and here's the coach throwing two bushers out there in place of two of the greatest players in the game.

We just begin the overtime, when I get the luckiest break in the world. I remember getting the puck. It came back to me off the draw, and it looked like a big watermelon rolling my way. I slapped at it with my stick and stumbled on ahead with it before I let fly a pass across to Punch Broadbent. I kept going up the ice because I didn't have sense enough to stay back on defense where I belonged. Then, whoops-a-daisy, I get the puck right back again, but I was off at a poor angle and on the wrong side of the net when I took this pass. There wasn't much I could to but wing a shot at the net. I let go a backhander and, lo and behold, I look up and see the goal judge waving his handkerchief and wave it in the air. To me, this handkerchief looked at big as a bed sheet.

I had scored on my first shot as a professional in the National Hockey League, and it was a winning goal in sudden-death overtime. Naturally I was robbed by my teammates and it then dawned on me that I should keep the puck as a souvenir. When I went after it, the Hamilton goalkeeper, a fellow by the name of [Howie] Lockhart, just glared at me. I never did know why, until a couple of years later when I met him outside the rink one day and asked him why he would do such a thing. He said it was because the puck went though a hole in the netting at the side of the goal! It hadn't gone in the front at all and so it shouldn't have counted!

But my first goal did count and we beat Hamilton 3-2 on that shot of mine. To this day I'm not sure whether to be proud of it or embarrassed by it. But scoring that goal on my first shot in the big leagues did one thing for me. It gave me a little confidence. My teammates hadn't see how the puck went in and they couldn't care less. In the shower after the game, Gerard, whose place I'd taken, came over to me and said, "Frankie, that was a terrific shot!:" I thought it was too - until this fellow Lockhart told me what he thought about it some time later.

The "goal" would be one of just four Clancy would score as an NHL rookie in 24 games that season. Clancy would play nine seasons with the Senators, winning Stanley Cups in 1923 and 1927 and being named their captain in 1928, before moving on to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1930 in exchange for $35,000 and two players as the struggling Senators began to sell of their most valuable assets in an effort to stay in business.

Clancy would play for the Maple Leafs for seven seasons, winning another Stanley Cup in 1932, where his charismatic personality, combined with his small size and extra large toughness, would make him a beloved icon in Toronto.

The 5' 7" Clancy (back row, far right) is dwarfed by his much larger

Senators teammates in this 1923-24 team photo

Clancy was said, according to McFarlane, to have started a thousand fights and never won any of them. At the time of his retirement in 1937, Clancy was the highest scoring defenseman in NHL history with 136 goals in 592 games, with his best season coming in 1930 with 17.

Following his playing days, Clancy became an NHL referee for 11 years before he went into coaching, first in the American Hockey League, which included a Calder Cup championship with Pittsburgh in 1952.

Doug Bentley politely conversing with referee Clancy

He was promoted to coach of the Maple Leafs in 1953 and, after three seasons, became assistant general manager until 1969 when he was made vice-president of the club, a position he held until he passed away at the age of 83 in 1986, the last surviving member of the 1923 Stanley Cup champions.

Clancy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 and the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1998, he was ranked #52 on The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.One further tribute was bestowed on the legendary Clancy when the King Clancy Memorial Trophy was named in his honor and is awarded annually since 1987 to the NHL player who demonstrates leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made exceptional humanitarian contributions on the community.

Today's featured jersey is a 1922-23 Ottawa Senators King Clancy jersey. The Senators wore their barber pole jerseys for each of their 14 seasons in the NHL, a style which actually dates back to the turn of the century years prior to the formation of the NHL.The Senators occasionally wore a special patch commemorating their standing as league champions and in 1929 an "O" crest arrived, but the black, red and white stripes were a constant, both at home and on the road, as the first road jersey did not arrive until the 1927-28 season when the newly renamed Maple Leafs introduced a white jersey to be worn for games against the New York Rangers, who also wore blue sweaters.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1931-32 Toronto Maple Leafs King Clancy jersey. This white jersey was the first road jersey in NHL history, necessitated by the green-clad Toronto St. Patricks being sold and changing their name to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1926-27 season.

When the Maple Leafs introduced a new blue jersey for the 1927-28, the New York Rangers were already wearing blue, which, for the first time in league history, necessitated a special jersey to avoid the confusion of both teams wearing blue sweaters. It would not be until six seasons later in 1933-34 that the New York Americans would become the second team to wear two different sweaters during a season.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Noah Clarke was born in 1979 in La Verne, California, 44 miles from The Forum, home of the Los Angeles Kings. Clarke was nine years old and already a Kings fan when Wayne Gretzky was dealt to the Kings. No doubt influenced by Gretzky's arrival in Southern California - a phenomenon known as "The Gretzky Effect" which resulted in a dramatic increase in youth hockey in California, Clarke took up playing hockey and has been quoted as saying that some of the rinks he ended up playing on probably wouldn't have been there if not for Gretzky's presence in Los Angeles.

Clarke moved to Minnesota to play at Shattuck-St. Mary's to further his hockey career, which led to him joining the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League. After two years of play in the USHL, averaging more than a point a game as well as being drafted by his hometown Los Angeles Kings, Clarke became a member of Colorado College Tigers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association under head coach Scott Owens, who had coached him in Des Moines.

Clarke immediately led the Tigers in scoring as a freshman with 37 points in 39 games. After consistent seasons of 32 and 37 points, Clarke exploded for 21 goals and 49 assists for 70 points in 42 games as a senior to lead the nation in assists and finish second overall to teammate and Hobey Baker Award winner Peter Sejna.

Following the conclusion of his college career, Clarke played three games with the Kings minor league affiliate the Manchester Monarchs in preparation for a full season with the Monarchs in 2003-04, as well as a pair of games with the Kings, the first of which came on this date in 2003 when Clarke became the first native Californian to ever play for the Kings in their 37 year history. He also scored his first NHL point with an assist on Jon Sim's goal in the Kings 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Clarke wearing the Kings Vintage jersey styleduring his NHL debut on this date in 2003

Clarke spent the next three seasons with the Monarchs, including highs of 24 goals and 57 points in the 2006-07 season. Clarke also played another five games with the Kings in 2005-06 and 13 more in 2006-07 which included his first two NHL goals, the first of which came on March 12, 2007, which was also the first Kings goal ever scored by a Californian.

Unable to crack the Kings lineup, Clarke signed with the New Jersey Devils, who assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils. Clarke played 47 games with Lowell, scoring 14 goals and 31 points. He also was called up for a single game with New Jersey in which he scored a goal.

Clarke then moved to Europe to continue his career in 2008-09, first with HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss National League A for 28 games before moving to Lukko Rauma of the Finnish SM-Liiga. He returned to HC Ambri-Piotta to start the 2009-10 season before changing teams again, this time moving to Slavia Praha HC in the Czech Republic.

Clarke while with Ambri Piotta in Switzerland

For the 2010-11 season Clarke signed with the Augsburg Panthers of the German DEL with whom he scored 17 goals and 47 points in 52 games. He played an abbreviated 2011-12 season of 18 games with Munich EHC, also of the DEL and skated for the Belfast Giants of the EIHL where he had a fine season of 21 goals and 58 points in 52 games, his first season averaging more than a point per season since his final year at Colorado College.

Clarke concluded his time in the NHL with 21 games, 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points.

To date, the only other native of California to play for the Kings was Gabe Gauthier of Torrance, California, who skated for the Kings in five games in the 2006-07 season without a point.

Today's featured jersey is a 2003-04 Los Angeles Kings Noah Clarke jersey. The Kings first introduced this jersey style in 1998-99 with the coat of arms logo on the front, but after four seasons of use swapped the primary and secondary logos, putting the crown on the front and relegating the coat of arms to the shoulders beginning in 2002-03.

It was replaced by a similar, but different, style when converted to the new Reebok Edge jerseys in 2007-08, with the main difference being the purple waist stripe being eliminated with the word Los Angeles remaining in purple lettering.

The white version remained in use through 2010-11 after which the team's black alternate was promoted to the primary home jersey and a new reverse color white version becoming the new road. The home black lived on as the team's third jersey through 2012-13 until being discontinued, once again leaving the team without any purple in their color palette for the first time in 14 years.

Today's video section begins with a look at the intensity of the fans of Ambri Piotta in Switzerland.

Here in an interview with Clarke following his first NHL goal as a member of the Kings, the first California-born player to ever score for Los Angeles.

Here is a clip of Clarke scoring his only goal while with the New Jersey Devils and an unfortunate slip of the tongue by the announcer while recapping Clarke's stats. Oops.

Monday, December 15, 2014

On this date in 1929, the Chicago Black Hawks played their first game in the new ChicagoStadium, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 before 14,212 fans as Vic Ripley scored twice in 35 seconds to lead the Black Hawks.

When it opened in 1929, Chicago Stadium was the largest indoor arena in the world, with a capacity of 16,600 fans at the time. It was built by PaddyHarmon, who lost out on owning the Black Hawks franchise when it was first awarded, but figured if he couldn't own the team, he would at least own the stadium in which they would play.

Chicago Stadium cost $9.5 million to build and was the first arena with air conditioning, such as it was at the time, as the arena was prone to bouts of fog during late-season games.

The stadium, known as "The Madhouse on Madison" was known for it's close quarters, many quirks and unique features, including two of the steepest, close to the action balconies in sports. Watching from the top level has been compared to clinging to a mountain face and watching goats on a ledge below.

The dressing rooms were located in the lower level of the building and players had to walk down a long hallway and then negotiate a cramped climb up 22 narrow steps, while wearing skates mind you, to reach the rink. Once on the ice, it's surface was only 185 feet long, 15 feet shorter than a standard rink of today.

These steps were indirectly responsible for the invention of the curved stick, as Stan Mikita, angered at the thought of having to descend these steps and make the trek to the dressing room to retrieve a new stick after cracking his old one, fired a puck into the boards with the cracked stick and noticed the difference that the curved blade made, which led to him developing a proper curved stick blade.

The stairs which led up to the ice surface behind the goal, complete with a"smash your head" overhang

Here is the intimidating flight of stairs seen from above at ice level

It also contained the last scoreboard with analog clocks, which the visiting announcers could never figure out. Some of the dials even ran backward to a normal clock, confusing those unfamiliar with it to no end. The analog scoreboard was installed in 1943 and not replaced until 1974, far outliving it's usefulness.

Chicago Stadium as also well known for its loud cheering during the national anthem sung by Wayne Messmer aided by a Barton pipe organ with 3,663 individual pipes. "The worst part is that I can't be in the crowd, experiencing it myself," said Messmer.

Speaking of noise, Chicago Stadium was also well known for it's intensely loud goal horn, which was the foghorn removed from the Wirtz family yacht and installed under the center ice scoreboard that reportedly brought more than one visiting player to his knees.

The stadium hosted the 1948, 1961, 1974 and 1991 NHL All-Star Games, as well as being home to the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967-1994, the 1973 and 1988 NBA All-Star Games, five political conventions for both Democrats and Republicans, many concerts, including FrankSinatra, ElvisPressley, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones and boxing matches, featuring at times JackDempsey, JoeLouis, RockyMarciano, SugarRayRobinson and MuhammadAli, among the many events held there.

One of the most unusual events had to be the 1932 NFL playoff game moved indoors due to a snow storm on a field that was 80 yards of dirt, won by the Chicago Bears 9-0 thanks to a pass from BronkoNagurski to RedGrange.

The 1932 NFL playoff game held inside Chicago Stadium

Chicago Stadium had a seating capacity of 17,317 at the end, but additional standing room tickets were sold. The largest crowd for a Blackhawks game was 20,069 for playoff game in April of 1982 versus Minnesota, a record for an NHL game that stood for 14 years.

The final Blackhawks game was held on April 28, 1994, a 1-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs that eliminated Chicago from the playoffs.

Today's featured jersey is a 1929-30 Chicago Black Hawks Edward "Teddy" Graham jersey as worn during the Black Hawks first season in the new Chicago Stadium. Notice the many windows visible from the seating area in the new stadium.

Graham played ten seasons in the NHL with Chicago, the Montreal Maroons, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Eagles, Boston Bruins and New York Americans.

Graham, a defenseman, finished his NHL career with 350 games played, scoring 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points and won a Memorial Cup in Canadian Junior hockey prior to joining the NHL.

This jersey style was first introduced in 1927 when the previous white jersey with black stripes had the colors reversed. This new black style was used through the 1933-34 season.

Chicago Stadium was renowned for the fans cheering loudly all throughout WayneMessmer's stirring renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner before each Blackhawks game, none louder than the 1991 NHL All-Star Game.

Former Minnesota North Star TomReid calls the action in "The Madhouse on Madison" during a 1982 playoff game.

Here are the closing ceremonies at Chicago Stadium in 1994, in three parts.

For further viewing, we recommend "Remember the Roar", a five part history of Chicago Stadium.

Our aim is to feature a different jersey each day from a historical perspective. Stay tuned and hopefully you'll see some jerseys of interest or perhaps some that you haven't seen before and learn a bit of hockey history along the way.

In addition to our articles, be sure to scroll down this column and explore the other fun and informative features of this blog.

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